Mackay of Strathnaver (chiefs)Mackay of Aberach (senior cadets)Mackay of Scoury
Mackay of Borley
Mackay of Bighouse
Mackay of Strathy
Mackay of Skerray
Mackay of Melness
Mackay of Sandwood
Mackay of Achmonie
Mackay of Galloway
Mackay of Argyle and the West
In other countries:
Mackay of the Netherlands
Mackay of Sweden

Clan Mackay (Gaelic: Mac Aoidh) is an ancient and once-powerful Scottish clan from the far North of the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old kingdom of Moray. They supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century. In the centuries that followed they were anti-Jacobite. The territory of the Clan Mackay consisted of the parishes of Farr, Tongue, Durness and Eddrachillis, and was known as Strathnaver, in the north-west of the county of Sutherland. However it was not until 1829 that Strathnaver was considered part of Sutherland when the chief sold his lands to the Earls of Sutherland and the Highland Clearances then had dire consequences for the clan. In the 17th century the Mackay chief's territory had extended to the east to include the parish of Reay in the west of the neighboring county of Caithness. The chief of the clan is Lord Reay and the lands of Strathnaver later became known as the Reay Country.

Historian Angus Mackay in his "Book of Mackay" (1906) compares two different genealogies of the early chiefs of the Clan Mackay.[7] The first is by Sir Robert Gordon, a 17th-century historian and the second by Alexander Mackay of Blackcastle, an 18th- to 19th-century historian who had access to the charters and historical documents of the Mackay chief's family.[7] Both genealogies have similarities but there are also significant differences given for the ancestry of the Mackay chiefs. Gordon's genealogy also claims that the chiefs of the Clan Mackay shared a common ancestor with both the chiefs of the Clan Forbes[note 1] and chiefs of Clan Farquharson. Historian Angus Mackay gives evidence that explains that Gordon's theory of the connection to the Forbeses was due to an extremely strong alliance between the two families that began during the 16th century in a long feud with the Gordon family.[8][note 2] The Blackcastle MS shows that the Mackay chiefs were related to the Farquharsons but gives a different connection to that given by Gordon.[7] Angus Mackay analyses what evidence is available to support each of the two genealogies and concludes that the one given in Alexander Mackay's Blackcastle Manuscript is by far the most accurate.[7]

The Blackcastle MS claims that Iye Mackay, 1st chief of the Clan Mackay, who was born in about 1210, was a descendant of Malcolm MacHeth, 1st Earl of Ross who died in about 1168.[7] Malcolm MacHeth, Earl of Ross may well have been related to the early rulers or Mormaers of Moray.[9] According to Angus Mackay, sometime in the 1160s, the MacHeths and their supporters after conflict with king Malcolm IV of Scotland fled northwards over the hills of Ross into Strathnaver, where they were welcomed by the Norse Harald Maddadsson, Mormaer of Caithness who was then an enemy of the king.[10] In 1215 the MacHeths along with the MacWilliams retaliated against the king but were defeated by Fearchar, Earl of Ross and the grandson of Malcolm MacHeth, Kenneth MacHeth was killed.[11] According to Angus Mackay it is possible that from this Kenneth MacHeth the Stathnaver Mackays are descended,[11] and that Iye Mackay, 1st chief of Clan Mackay may well have been his son or nephew.[12] According to the Blackcastle MS Iye Mackay's son was Iye Mor Mackay, 2nd chief of Clan Mackay who married a daughter of Walter, Bishop of Caithness in 1263.[7]

According to Major General Stewart the Mackays were amongst the clans who supported Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.[13] Later in the 14th century, in 1371 two Mackay chieftains were murdered, father and son, at Dingwall Castle by Nicholas Sutherland of Duffus, head of one of the junior branches of Clan Sutherland. Much bloodshed followed, including a retaliatory raid on Dornoch in 1372. The cathedral was once again set on fire and many Sutherland men were hanged in the town square. After this, the feud quietened down as both sides were called away to fight against the English.[14]

In the late 15th century the Clan Mackay and Clan Ross had long been at feud. This resulted in the Battle of Tarbat in 1486 where the Mackays were defeated by the Rosses and the Mackay chief was killed.[25] This was followed by the Battle of Aldy Charrish where the Rosses were defeated by the Mackays and the Ross chief was killed along with many of his clan.[26] According to 17th-century historian Sir Robert Gordon, who was a younger son of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland, the Clan Sutherland joined the side of the Clan Mackay at this battle.[26] However 19th-century historian Angus Mackay disputes the Sutherland's presence at the battle stating that it would be unlikely that the Earl of Sutherland at the time would have assisted against the Rosses as he was married to a daughter of the Ross chief of Balnagowan, and also that the feudal superiority of the Sutherlands over the Mackays "nowhere existed save in his own fertile imagination".[27]

It is Clan Cameron tradition that in 1505 the Battle of Achnashellach took place, where the Camerons defeated a joint force from the Clan Mackay and Clan Munro, whose chief, William Munro of Foulis was killed.[28] In 1513 chief Iye Roy Mackay (d.1517) along with his brother, John Riavach Mackay, led the Mackays at the Battle of Flodden, where John Riavach was killed along with many of his clansmen.[29]

In 1517 the Battle of Torran Dubh took place where the Clan Sutherland encountered John Mackay and his company at Torran Dubh, beside Rogart, in Strathfleet, where there ensued a fierce and cruel conflict and the Mackays were defeated.[30] In 1522 Alexander Gordon (the Earl of Sutherland's eldest son) overthrew John Mackay of Strathnaver at Lairg, and forced him to submit himself to the Earl of Sutherland, to whom John Mackay gave a bond of manrent and service.[31] In 1528 the Mackays are associated with Clan Forbes in their feuds with the Clan Gordon. In 1542 the Battle of Alltan-Beath took place between the Clan Mackay and the Clan Sutherland. Chief Donald Mackay was captured and imprisoned in Foulis Castle in Ross by command of the Queen Regent.[32]

A 17thC German print assumed to show men of Mackay's Regiment in Stettin during the Thirty Years' War. The original caption states, "They are a strong and hardy people who survive on little food. If they have no bread, they eat roots [turnips may be intended]. When necessary, they can cover more than 20 German miles in a day's forced march. [1 German mile = 4¾ English miles] Besides muskets, they carry bows, quivers and long swords."

In 1638 James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose and the Lords Home, Boyd and Loudoun invited Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay to meet them and others to consider the religious troubles of the time and to sign the Covenant, which he did unwillingly, along with his son, John Mackay, Master of Reay, because of his long attachment to Charles I.[49] In 1644, like Montrose, Lord Reay again espouses the cause of Charles I of England in the English Civil War, and aided Lord Crawford for several months at the Siege of Newcastle, in the defence of the city against the Scots army.[49] When the town was captured by General Leslie, Lord Reay and Lord Crawford were sent as prisoners to Edinburgh Castle.[49] In 1645 following Montrose's victory at the Battle of Kilsyth, Lord Reay was liberated from imprisonment and returned home.[50] In January 1649 Charles I was executed.[51] Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay having fought for Charles I during the civil war was to be created Earl of Strathnaver but the royal patent was not completed and Reay went into exile in Denmark where he died in February 1649.[17]

In 2004 six "Mackay Country" signs were installed welcoming people to the area that was once the territory of the clan.[59] They were placed at Kylesku, Achfary (both in parish of Eddrachillis), Forsinard, Dalvina, Crask (all three in parish of Farr) and one on the A836 road at the border between the counties of Caithness and Sutherland.[59] In 2014 the latter was vandalized.[59]

In 1802 the Reay Fencibles regiment was disbanded at Stirling. In 1806 the "Mackay's Society" is founded in Glasgow. In 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, the 79th Highland Regiment of Foot formed a square upon being attacked by French Cavalry. Piper Kenneth Mackay, showing no fear, marched out of the square and plays the tune "War or Peace" (Cogadh No Sith). Kenneth was presented with a set of Silver Pipes by the King's own hand for his bravery. In 1815 - 1818 - The Highland Clearances began to take effect on the Mackay lands, by which the people were removed to make room for sheep. This was because in 1829 the Reay estate is sold to the Countess of Sutherland by Eric, 7th Lord Reay.

In 1865 there was an attack on the fortification of Sercunderbah in India. The mutineers were the 2nd Battalion of Punjabis, the only Sikh regiment to mutiny. David Mackay won the Victoria Cross by taking the colours of the Punjabis. Later in the day David was shot while attacking a second fort of Shah Neijeef. He was returned to Britain to recover.

In 1875 on the death of Eric Mackay, 9th Lord Reay, who was unmarried, the title passed to the branch of the family resident in Holland and descended from John Mackay, 2nd Lord Reay. Æneas Mackay, a Baron of the Netherlands, Vice President of the Council of State and holder of the Cross of the Order of the Netherlands, became 10th Lord Reay. He died in 1876. His son, Donald James Mackay, succeeded as 11th Lord Reay, left Holland and was made a Peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Reay of Durness (8 October 1881) with a seat in the House of Lords. He was appointed Governor of Bombay (1885–90) and Under-Secretary of State for India (1894–95) and was Lord Lieutenant of Roxburghshire. In 1900 - South Africa, L/Cpl. John Frederick MacKay serving with the Gordon Highlanders at the battle of Crow’s Nest Hill, North Johannesburg, wins the highest award, the Victoria Cross.

Scottish clan map showing the Clan Mackay territory of Strathnaver coloured in light blue and the settlements of Reay, Farr and Tongue from east to west

Castle Varrich in Tongue, Sutherland was the ancient seat of the chief of Clan Mackay but the chief later moved to Tongue House, Sutherland (still in private ownership). Castle Varrich, also known as Caisteal Bharraich was originally held by the Bishops of Caithness before being held by the Mackays.[3]

House of Tongue in Tongue, Sutherland was the main seat of the Mackay chief, Lord Reay.[3] The House of Tongue was later acquired by the Dukes of Sutherland and is still held by them.[3] It is occasionally open to the public.[3]

Dounreay Castle near Thurso, Caithness was originally held by the Clan Sinclair but later passed the Mackay Lords Reay.[3] It was still occupied in 1863 and now stands in the grounds of the Dounreay Nuclear Plant.[3]

Loch Stack Castle near Scourie, Sutherland was held by the Mackays of Reay.[3]

Melness House near Tongue was held by the Mackays from the 14th century.[3] An older house later replaced by a mansion was the site of the Skirmish of Tongue.[3]

Scourie Castle in Scourie, Sutherland. Seat of the Mackay of Scoury branch of the clan. (See Hugh Mackay of Scourie). The property later went to the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland and the later Scourie House dates from 1864.[3]

^The Celtic magazine; a monthly periodical devoted to the literature, history, antiquities, folk lore, traditions, and the social and material interests of the Celt at home and abroad (Volume 10) p.573 [1]

^Mackay, Robert (1829), pp. 114 - 118. Quoting: Gordon, Sir Robert (1580 - 1656). A Geanealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland.

^Historian Sir Robert Gordon, writing in about 1615 - 1630, in his lineage of the Mackay chiefs stated that the Mackays were descended from one Walter, who was said to be the bastard son of the predecessor of the Lord Forbes who at that time was not of the surname Forbes. Historian Angus Mackay, in his "Book of Mackay" (1906) states that there is documentary evidence from about 1500 to 1715 that shows a close friendship between the two families so as to strongly confirm the tradition that they were of kindred stock. However Angus Mackay does not accept the lineage given by Sir Robert Gordon, and instead accepts the lineage given in Alexander Mackay's Blackcastle Manuscript. The tradition of a shared ancestry between the Mackays and Forbeses was later recorded by two other 17th-century historians: Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty recorded in 1652 that the Mackays, Urquharts and Forbeses were all of the same stock and in 1667 William Forbes recorded that the same three families shared a common ancestor. The Mackays and Urquharts of Cromarty had shortly before the account of 1652 was written also been on very good terms: they had been associated in 1649 when Inverness was captured by the royalists and Captain Mackay of Borley had led some men alongside the Urquhart Knight of Cromarty at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

^Throughout the 16th century a feud was fought between the Clan Forbes and Clan Gordon in which the Mackays were strong supporters of the Forbeses. There were conflicts and murders between the Gordons and Forbeses in the 1520's, 1530's right up until 1571 when the Battle of Tillieangus and Battle of Craibstone were fought, and the two clans were even on opposing sides at the Battle of Glenlivet in 1594. The Mackays had been on such good terms with the Forbeses that the sons of chief Iye Du Mackay, who died in 1572, even went to the length of calling themselves "Mackay-Forbes". While the Clan Forbes feuded with the Gordon, Earls of Huntly, the Mackays feuded with their cousins the Gordon, Earls of Sutherland.